The dean of alternative journalism in the Washington, DC area, Sam Smith, talks about the growing buzz among progressives in support of Al Gore as the Democratic presidential candidate in 2008; Reuben Jackson reviews a new biography of soul vocalist Sam Cooke; Dr. Anthony Scialli discusses the beneifts and liabilities of hormone therapy for menopausal and post-menopausal women; JaHipster and Rei Berroa offer poems; Education Week's Kathleen Kennedy Manzo delivers a report card on "No Child Left Behind"; and folk-rocker, singer-songwriter Billy Coulter performs.